Random Years
by alirodina
Summary: Remus Lupin wakes up and realizes he's in love with Sirius Black, of all people. Rated for language and general slash-iness. SBRL with JPLE.
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter: Random Years

Author's Note: Harry Potter and the rest is to J.K. Rowling.

Those who'd read the earlier version of "Random Years" would notice that I have merged some chapters to make the story flow more smoothly. Sorry about that. The fact is, I wasn't really going to write more after that scene with Sirius not going home for the holidays. But life is a very surprising thing, and I got stuck with this idea about a bet that I really needed to write about. The tone was quite similar to the original first two chapters that I decided to pin it on that.

I've also added one more scene to Chapter 2 (Chapter 4 in that old version). It's in the last part, so you don't have to re-read the whole thing.

Thanks to the kind reviewers! Yoroshiku!

Chapter One

It was a winter morning, a week before Christmas, when Remus Lupin woke up and realized he was in love with Sirius Black.

He spent five minutes looking at the tattered hangings of his four-poster bed with a slight frown, hugging his pillow close and thinking on it. Yes, he decided, finally. He did love Sirius Black. A surprising thing, really. He often saw the haughty boy more as a pain in the neck than a possible love interest, considering the number of times he actually had to step in and stop Sirius from extremely brilliant, unfortunately equally forbidden, mischief making. Not that he listened very much to what Remus had been saying about maturity, being more occupied with looking out of the window in that bored way of his. Of course, that did hurt Remus more than he wanted to admit, a fact which he had already suspected, but would not have stopped the lecture anyway. Remus sighed. Being in love with a guy like Sirius is like having a constant headache. He suddenly started wondering if he had lost his mind.

He turned to his right side slowly. Did he exhibit the classical symptoms of the lovesick, he wondered. He had eaten quite a heavy meal last night, not being able to say no to the third helpings of treacle tart that Sirius had piled up on his plate. So that, he supposed, rules out the not-being-able-to-eat part. He _had _passed a restless night, but that was because he was worrying about the work he had missed since the last full moon. And O.W.L.s are looming somewhere in his horizon, asking him why he had wanted to be a wizard in the first place. But just two days ago, hadn't he blushed furiously when Sirius, undressed, stepped into the pool with him? But that could have been owing to the uncomfortably warm water and the cloying scent of lavender of the bath. And he had not been feeling very well then. Must have been the moon cycle.

Remus repeated the sigh. He was going to miss breakfast if he didn't get up soon. And there was also the train to catch. He wasn't even sure if he had packed up properly last night.

The problem was, he had the feeling that he actually wanted to stay for the holidays as well. No… rephrase that. He had the feeling that he _would_ realize that he actually wanted to stay for the holidays as well. After all, hadn't Sirius asked him a few weeks back? And James wasn't down on the idea, too. In fact, he was overenthusiastic about it. Probably because Lily Evans' parents were going off for Majorca on the Eve and had written a month before asking her if it would be all right if she stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas.

But that was out of the topic.

Sirius would not tolerate such goings on. He himself would not tolerate it. He sat up, still hugging his pillow. Well, might as well get on with it, he decided. And he still had enough time for toast and marmalade.

"Wake up, Moony." The drapes slid open with a swishing sound, revealing the mischievous face that he always woke up to for the last five years. Remus closed his eyes, frowning.

"I have," he said, slowly. "Get off, Sirius, I need to go check on my trunk." He swatted vaguely at Sirius, who had jumped onto the bed with him amidst all the soft pillows and loud creaks of the protesting bed.

"Aw, come on. You've checked your stuff half a dozen times yesterday already. And knowing you, they're probably neatly tagged and labeled too. Really, Remus John Lupin." Sirius smiled at him, bouncing a bit on the bed and making it creak more ominously.

"All right. All right." Remus sighed. That was his third for this morning. It was probably another one of those days. "What do you want?" He stood up with difficulty, as Sirius had landed on one of his legs and refused to budge. "And where's James?"

"Really, Remus, you can do better than that. I've been concerned enough to wake you up and all you can do is ask for James? Been snapping at me rather unkindly, too. Where's your Christmas spirit, Moony?" Sirius said, mockingly. He was still lying on Remus' bed, seemingly enjoying the pillows.

"Probably looking around for toast and marmalade. Get off there, Padfoot, unless you want to show me your underpants."

"Do you want to see them? You should have asked me, Moony."

"_Up_, Sirius." The tone was light, but Sirius stood up hurriedly.

"You're really touchy this morning, aren't you?" he said, cautiously. He thought that Remus would never get the nerve to hex him, but then again, perhaps he had never gone far enough. "Come on, I'll get you your toast and marmalade. Can't afford not to have our trunks neatly tagged and labeled, can we?"

As Remus laughed softly, he realized he had decided on it too.

He should probably stay away from Sirius from now on, as well.

*

Sirius Black woke up first in the dormitory.

He could hear Peter's soft snores, two beds from his, cutting through the lulling silence of the room. He sat up slowly, stretching his arms upwards. Snow fell in arrhythmic thuds against the thick paneled windows, reminding him of the coming holidays. He caught himself sighing. What a way to start a day. But at least classes were out. That was something.

His legs were reluctant to leave the warmer confines of his bedclothes, but he moved them from the bed, anyway, searching around for a horrible moment with his feet against cold stone before they found his worn, but thankfully warm slippers. He shuffled across the room, trying not to make too much noise, but failing miserably. He had already reached his empty trunk and opened it with a loud thud when he heard the same sounds he had made earlier and saw James Potter move out from behind his bed hangings.

"How's it going?" James yawned at him, stretching.

"As fine as it would go, I suppose." Sirius answered, glumly. The empty trunk seemed to yawn at him too, reminding him now of the letter he had sent yesterday telling his mother that he wasn't going home for the holidays, not this time. Which is why he wasn't particularly looking forward to Christmas break, who would if they were expecting a Howler anytime soon?

"Aw, brighten up, mate," James said, beaming. "What could she do to you? Hex you through owl mail?" He was already half-dressed, his voice for a time muffled by his jumper.

"No. But she could come here to take me home," Sirius muttered, kicking his trunk shut. Remus gave a soft moan from his bed. "Sorry." he said automatically, although he was sure the other boy hadn't awakened yet. Remus was a surprisingly heavy sleeper.

"Seriously?" James' tone was incredulous. "She'd do that? Is your presence that important in a family get-together you can do any other year?"

Sirius didn't answer. He stared at Remus' bed like he had never seen it before, his eyes narrowed into mere slits. James could almost see the smoke puffing from his best friend's nostrils.

"Well, we'd deal with the problem if it gets here," James said, placatingly. "Hey, I'd be going down, okay? I can almost smell the sausages from here. You coming?"

"I'd wake Moony up first. He's going to miss his train if he won't wake up anytime soon." Sirius made for Remus' bed slowly.

James got his cue. "See you later then," he said, closing the door behind him.

Sirius looked at the closed door for a long moment before sitting back on his bed.

*

"Thanks." Remus reached out for his toast in his vaguely happy manner, licking at his fingers where the marmalade had dripped onto them. "You saved me a lot of trouble, too." He found out that he hadn't packed his books yet, driving him into mild panic as he scurried around the room looking for them.

"Consider staying behind with me?" Sirius said, placing a glass of hot chocolate on Remus' desk.

"With you and James? I must be out of my mind. Or that's what's certainly going to happen if I do. I don't think I want to spend my Christmas in bed with a headache, Padfoot," Remus said, lightly.

"I'll be bored out of my wits here," Sirius complained. "Come on."

"With James? Are you serious?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes. That's how I've been named. And James stayed behind because Lily's here…"

"Get a girlfriend, Padfoot," Remus quipped.

"Not interested. Besides, you think I've got enough time to scurry behind anyone, carrying their bookbags?" Sirius said, one eyebrow rising sardonically.

"At your state now, you won't even be able to carry your own," Remus said, finishing his first toast with relish. He reached out for the glass on his desk.

"That obvious, huh?" Sirius muttered, before poking Remus on the ribs. "So, did I just receive a proposition? Would you be my boyfriend?"

"I'm very flattered." His voice didn't sound like it. "But no thanks. Being a madman's best friend is enough for my delicate health, thank you."

"You might regret it." Sirius decided to drop the subject when Remus started groping around for his wand. "What about you? I've never seen you with girls… except Evans, and she'll barely count, does she? Being fellow prefects and all. Haven't you even considered falling in love?"

"What's this? You haven't set me up with one of those scary Slytherin girls, have you?" Remus' voice was mild, but his lips twitched when he said it.

"What? With your delicate health in mind? No way." Sirius sat on Remus' trunk while he attempted to lock it. "Besides, that would be a waste of cute little boys, wouldn't it? Does this mean you've made up your mind?" He gestured at the bulging trunk.

"Probably, I haven't mentioned staying to my parents, have I?" Remus' voice was muffled by his dark green sweater. "I don't think it's fair for girls not to know what I am."

"I think it's cool."

"You think I was talking about the mad percentage in the Hogwarts students list?" Remus said. He looked at his prefect badge before pocketing it.

"You know, I love your dry humor." Sirius smiled, silently daring Remus to make him get off the trunk.

"Thanks. I love you too." Remus looked at him with his arms crossed. Even standing up, with Sirius sitting on the trunk before him, he was not much taller than the other boy. A fact which greatly diminished his severe position. "Get off the trunk, Padfoot."

"Kiss me goodbye." Sirius tapped his cheek with a small smile.

"You wish."

"Come on, Moony."

"Don't make me hex you off that trunk, mate."

"All right, all right. I'm off." Sirius stood up slowly. "So you're really abandoning me to boredom hell? You don't even have to give me a Christmas present. Just stay here and give me a big kiss."

"What's with you and kisses?" Remus sighed. It was his fourth one, but Sirius would not have known that. "_Locomotor_ trunk."

"You're the one who told me to get a girlfriend."

"I'm not a girlfriend." Remus was already at the door. Sirius watched him with his hands on his hips, with a mock glare. "And stop fooling around like that."

"Why?"

"Because I just might—" the trunk fell from the stairs unceremoniously, making Sirius miss Remus' next words. By the time the thumping sounds stopped with a great loud clatter, Remus was already on his next sentence. "And what are you worrying about a Howler when you won't be coming home for Christmas? It's not like you to worry too much, Padfoot."

"Well, don't let the whole world know, Moony," he shouted back, grumpily. But he finished off the last toast with another small smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Harry Potter and the rest is to J.K. Rowling.

Those who'd read the earlier version of "Random Years" would notice that I have merged some chapters to make the story flow more smoothly. Sorry about that. The fact is, I wasn't really going to write more after that scene with Sirius not going home for the holidays. But life is a very surprising thing, and I got stuck with this idea about a bet that I really needed to write about. The tone was quite similar to the original first two chapters that I decided to pin it on that.

I've also added one more scene to Chapter 2 (Chapter 4 in that old version). It's in the last part, so you don't have to re-read the whole thing.

Thanks to the kind reviewers! Yoroshiku!

Chapter Two

"I'm bored."

"What's new then?" said Remus, although he had the manners to say it facing away from Sirius so that the other boy didn't hear him. James did, though, and his snort cut through the rest of Sirius' sentence. Remus barely heard some inane plan on sneaking out of the castle at night.

"Sorry, mate, I'm studying Charms with Lily tonight." James's voice cracked when he said Lily's name, although he did manage not to blush like he usually does whenever the girl's name crops up in their conversation. James had finally swallowed his pride and had asked Remus to help him with his decidedly failed attempts to impress Lily. Remus had no earthly idea on how to win the girls over, but he did know Lily Evans since they were fellow prefects and he had an idea on what the problem with James was.

As if to illustrate the point, James went on, "Of course, I don't really need to study. I'm sure I'll get an Outstanding on it in our N.E.W.T's later on. Flitwick would say the very least."

"I hope you don't say such things in front of Lily," said Remus, lightly. This turned out to be a feat because Sirius, suddenly ignored, began transferring his charming self from the couch to Remus' lap. "Get off me, Padfoot. No licking!"

"You guys are disgusting," said James, pleasantly. "Of course I won't be saying things like that in front of Lily. We're going to be studying, not talking about ourselves, like in a date."

"If," said Sirius, from Remus' lap. "You believe what you're saying, mate, I'm ashamed to ever call you my friend. Does this mean you can't join us tonight in a wonderful carouse in the castle grounds?"

"Yes, Padfoot. Most certainly. But perhaps Mr. Moony and Mr. Wormtail would like to join you?"

"Not if he doesn't get off me."

"I don't know… there are exams in Divination tomorrow."

Sirius stood up in a flutter of loose robes and bent over Peter like he was examining a particularly interesting flobberworm. "I didn't know you were particularly interested in crystal balls, Wormtail. If this is about some mental idea on impressing that mosquito—"

"Trelawney!" Peter squeaked, surprising Remus by answering back. "And she's not a mosquito. I think—"

"We know very well what you think, Peter," said Remus, kindly. He still couldn't listen to people his age talking about the opposite sex with such blissful expressions on their faces without wincing. And Peter's crush on the Divination professor was getting old. "He's just being a git, is all."

"Moony, you're breaking my heart." Sirius leaned back melodramatically, clutching at his chest where his heart supposedly was. Some of the girls sitting near the fire looked over at the four of them and began giggling.

"I didn't know you had one. Forgive me, Padfoot."

Peter was looking at the two boys with his mouth slightly open, following their exchange with jerky movements of his head that Remus usually sees him do watching Quidditch matches. James, now the bored one, began to examine his nails in an elaborate manner. In the summer holidays Sirius had finally run away from home and camped out in the yard of James' house, where Remus promptly came for a visit (Peter was on vacation in France with his family). Sirius and Remus then proceeded to do nothing but bicker and eat more pudding than James thought possible for a couple of skinny boys. Like Peter's little crush, it was getting pretty moldy.

"Will you two gits stuff it?" said James, when Peter looked like he was going to break his neck. "Fighting like newlyweds, I mean. It might give people ideas."

Sirius, not the kind of person who spat, sniffed at James. "What do you know about it? Just because you're going out with Evans doesn't mean everybody else is in love, you know."

"He's right," agreed Remus. James thought that he looked more tired than usual, almost years older than his actual sixteen. Remus sighed, running one hand through his hair and making it stand up in all directions. "I think I'm going to bed now."

"Aw, Moony, the night's just begun. Lily hasn't even come down yet." James' expression changed from bored to chagrined so quickly that Remus had to stifle a laugh. Sirius, scowling ferociously behind James, was silent for once. "Sit down, why don't you? I could help you with that Felix Felicis if you want."

"No, it's okay." Remus made a face and began massaging his temples in a pointed manner in front of James. "Maybe some other time. I'm sure Lily's going to be here soon. I'm just tired, Prongs, it's nothing, really."

"Oh, let him go if he wants," said Sirius. "Good little boys shouldn't be staying up late at night, anyway. Better stay with the people who really know how to have a good time."

Peter looked surprised, and somewhat flattered to be considered as someone who knew how to have a good time. But James was shaking his head at his best friend. Nobody noticed Remus, which was just as well.

"I think that's going too far, mate. Moony isn't that bad, as far as prefects go."

"Yes," said Peter. "Remember he was the one who thought of letting the Dungbombs go off in the girl's bathroom? Everyone just thought people—"

"Goodnight, everyone," Remus cut in.

*

Sirius watched Remus go without saying anything more. He wanted to kick himself the moment he made the joke about good boys who go to bed early. It wasn't as if he thought Remus was that bad, really. He just didn't like the way the other boy dismissed everything he said and did, telling him why it was all a bad idea in that calm and pleasant manner of his so that Sirius just wanted to hit him with one of his beloved books. In fact, Sirius hated being dismissed at all. Even by Remus.

Especially by Remus.

"What's with you, mate?" said James. "You know he didn't mean anything by it. He's called me git lots of times, too. And other things besides."

Sirius glared at his best friend, who by now should have known the dangers of being caught between his fights with Remus. "You like him so much, why don't you go out with him instead of Evans?"

"Well," said James, his hazel eyes glinting like whenever he was going to do something McGonagal wasn't going to be happy about. "I might, except I wouldn't want to be your rival, mate."

"Listen to you, Potter. If I wanted Remus, he'd be my boyfriend even as we talk, that easy." Sirius held out one hand with his palm outwards as if to illustrate where Remus was going to be if he, Sirius, wanted him. He didn't realize that he was blushing so furiously he was reminding James of a Remembrall.

"Really? I'd like to see you try, mate." James resisted the urge to laugh. He would have to play it perfectly if he wanted it to work. "Ten galleons say you can't."

"And ten says I can," said Sirius. He would never have agreed if he had seen the look on his best friend's face, but he was too busy trying not meet anyone's eyes.

"Done. And don't forget that you have to at least get a snog—" James began.

"At best a shag," giggled Peter.

"Out of him before Valentine's Day."

"That's a fortnight from now," said Sirius, wondering if he was alarmed or not. The joke about snogging and shagging had made him think that he had been too hasty, but nothing short of Voldemort's appearance would make him take his bet back. And even then, Sirius had the feeling even the Git Who Must Not Be Named could make him lose ten galleons over such a mental thing as making his best friend fall in love with him.

That was something only Remus himself can do.

*

Remus opened his book bag and looked inside it for the third time, but the box of Chocolate Frogs remained wedged between his three-feet long essay on Rematerialization and his Arithmancy book. He couldn't remember placing it there before going out of the dormitory this morning. Actually, he couldn't remember seeing the box when he took out his notes at the beginning of their Charms class, but there it was now, like a troll at a veela's dinner party.

"Come on, Moony," said Sirius, waving at him from the door. "James and Peter are probably eating all the steak and kidney pie now, the greedy gits. What are you doing anyway? Checking for Rematerialized books?"

"Padfoot my friend," said Remus, closing his bag for the last time and getting up. The Charms room was empty but for the two of them, everyone else hurrying to the Great Hall for lunch and maybe the library to finish their Transfiguration essay. "You're so brilliant it blinds me."

"And so I would remain the light of your life, mate," said Sirius, impatiently looking behind him towards the general direction of the Great Hall. "You should have told me sooner."

Remus didn't answer, walking several steps behind Sirius and still thinking about the box of Chocolate Frogs. Remus had nothing against giving gifts to people. James and Sirius received gifts from female admirers all the time, let alone a measly box of Chocolate Frogs smuggled inside their bags in the middle of class. It was a fortnight to Valentine's Day. Getting chocolates from an unknown admirer wasn't exactly unusual.

But Remus didn't like getting noticed. He was glad that James and Sirius got all the attention. The less the rest of Hogwarts knew of Remus Lupin and his secrets, the better. The fact that his 'admirer' had 'given' him the chocolates in class meant that they were from Griffindor too, or knew someone who was, and that made things worse because that could mean that they had been watching him for a long time without him being aware of it. The possibilities, aside from being proverbially endless, were blood curdling.

"Oi, what's wrong?"

Remus looked up and realized that Sirius had stopped walking so that they were now standing side by side. "What? I mean, did you say something?"

"It was just a joke, Moony, okay?"

"What?" said Remus. "Was it you?"

"Was I what?" said Sirius, looking as blank as Remus felt. He was glad there wasn't anyone else walking in the corridors, anyone who could see them right now could mistake them for a couple of Slytherin thugs.

"Er— I— What were you saying, anyway?" Of course Sirius could never look like a thug, thought Remus, although the thought didn't help matters any.

"Well, you were looking all serious so I thought you were angry about something," said Sirius, saying the words as if they were leprechaun gold that needed spending. "I was joking about being kept for lunch, right?"

"Well, you should have gone ahead with James and Peter, you know," Remus pointed out. "I did tell you."

Sirius sighed, reaching out to tug at the sleeve of Remus' robe. "You think too much, Moony. I heard that was a symptom of an empty stomach, you know?"

"Funny," said Remus, smiling. "I could have sworn that was your stomach I heard growling at me. You're in charge of that department, right?"

"Hilarious, Moony," said Sirius. "That's pretty rich coming from someone who can't even howl on pitch."

"You're not supposed to howl on pitch, Padfoot. That's the point of it."

"Speak for youself, mate. I happen to howl beautifully."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Harry Potter and the rest is to J.K. Rowling.

Those who'd read the earlier version of "Random Years" would notice that I have merged some chapters to make the story flow more smoothly. Sorry about that. The fact is, I wasn't really going to write more after that scene with Sirius not going home for the holidays. But life is a very surprising thing, and I got stuck with this idea about a bet that I really needed to write about. The tone was quite similar to the original first two chapters that I decided to pin it on that.

I've also added one more scene to Chapter 2 (Chapter 4 in that old version). It's in the last part, so you don't have to re-read the whole thing.

Thanks to the kind reviewers! Yoroshiku!

Chapter Three

Two days after the full moon saw Remus still running around trying to catch up with the work he'd missed when he was 'sick'. Probably the rest of Hogwarts thought of him as a delicate thing who'd fall down with the touch of a breath, but that can't be helped. The fact that he can't seem to put on weight no matter how much he ate only sealed the delicate image with a fluorish.

That Thursday morning, he had already managed a couple of toast with jam and sausages when James and the rest came yawning down from the dorms.

"You're an early bird," said James, in the middle of stretching.

"Considering that this bird had been out of commission a few days ago, he has plenty reason to be," said Remus, getting up from the bench. "I always seem to choose the most inconvenient times to get sick."

"Every excuse to miss class is a precious jewel," Sirius put in. He was barely awake himself and was using his fingers to keep his eyes open. "You're leaving?"

Remus nodded. "There's still that essay on dementors I need to write, so I better squeeze in some library time before classes."

"Don't forget about the work we still need to do on the Map," said Peter, who hated doing things alone.

"Yeah, the last time I checked, all the ghosts turn into walking armor when they reach the North tower. Whose part was that, anyway?" said James, reaching out for some toast and almost overturning the milk jug on someone's copy of _Advanced Potion Making._

"Padfoot's," said Remus. Sirius made a face at him, but didn't say anything. They were still wary about the 'good boy' remark and neither really felt like fighting so early in the morning.

"I forgot," said Sirius. "It was easier to write them off as armor first, see, before putting in the spell to identify them as ghosts."

"So you took the easier way out again," said Peter. His voice suggested his wonder at not having thought of the same thing. Peter loved anything that could make his work easier; he wouldn't have agreed to write the Map in the first place, considering the amount of work needed to be done, except that it was James who'd suggested it.

"Laziness is the mother of invention." Sirius shrugged, making way for Remus as the latter passed him on his way to the library. "Hey, Moony, you have something on your face— here."

Remus looked up in time to see Sirius lean close so he could lick a trace of jam from the corner of Remus' mouth.

"Thanks," said Remus, smiling vaguely before going on his way. He had already gone halfway up the staircase when he realized what Sirius had just done, and he was glad that no one was around to see him blush.

*

"What was that about?" said Peter, looking closely at Sirius' face.

"Smooth, mate. Very smooth," smirked James, through a bite of toast and marmalade. "You might win those ten galleons after all."

"I don't see what the fuss is all about," said Sirius. "I was just helping him get clean. It's good grooming."

"I guess." James laughed. "It's what you do when you're in canine forms, isn't it? Well, you better watch out. It's ridiculously easy to misinterpret such scenes as signs of burning passion, you know."

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you, James?" said Sirius, taking a sip of hot chocolate and trying to forget what happened earlier altogether. But the memory of Remus looking up at him with the familiar vague smile made him choke a bit so that Peter had to thump him rather strongly on the back to get him breathing again.

"Why not? Someday, perhaps when you're a doddering old man you're going to look back and realize what a great help I'd been to you in your youth," said James. "We're young only once, Padfoot, old friend. Grab all the chances while you could."

"I never thought I'd live to hear someone say that to Sirius Black," said Peter.

"I know. Sound more like something you'd tell Remus, eh?" said James. "But you're acting real different, too Sirius, so I guess the normal rules don't apply."

"Perhaps you'd me like to conjure some nice pink heart confetti to match your mood?" said Sirius, rather sourly. He wasn't a morning person, and the talk they were having wasn't helping things any, except that he realized that he really wasn't sleepy anymore. "You guys are talking like a couple of first year girls."

"Aw, you're just not romantic," James quipped. "You'd better watch out, I could sure use those ten galleons."

"Who said you'll win the bet, anyway?"

"I don't bet when I'm not sure I'll win."

*

To say that Sirius Black was mightily pissed off would be like saying that dementors are a bit unsettling: he had the feeling there just weren't enough words yet in the English language to describe how he felt, which was sort of depressing coming from a wizard.

He finished his toast as quickly as he could, planning on going to the library to see Remus as soon as he could. He still didn't have any idea on what to do or say once he got there, but he couldn't let James win the bet sitting down. Remus was probably one of the easiest person to talk to that Sirius knew, so he was hoping that it would all come to him when he's actually there. He'd always worked better under pressure anyway. It was just like taking the N.E.W.T.s: nothing to it.

Or so he liked to tell himself.

Standing before the doors to the library, though, he was having second thoughts about his plan (or lack of it). But before he could decide on what to do, he heard footsteps coming closer. It was times like these that prompted the writing of the Marauder's Map, though it would have helped if they'd thought about it sooner. With a muttered oath, Sirius went inside the library. Not one of the brightest things he'd done, but he really wasn't in the mood to talk to Filch or one of the professors.

The door to the library opened again as Sirius slithered behind one of the shelves.

"Aw, come on, Evans, you don't have a date on Valentine's Day anyway," said James.

Sirius, hiding a smile behind his hand, couldn't believe his luck. Now he'd just have to make sure James and Lily wouldn't see him rubbing shoulders with moldy books on goblin rebellions because this was a scene that must be preserved for future reference. And while he was the one who was going to do the preserving, he shouldn't ruin it all by interrupting the two.

"And so you assumed I'd be going with you. Aren't you just full of yourself, Potter?" Lily said. But her tone was light, and Sirius figured that James wasn't so daft for listening to Remus' advice on girls after all.

"Full of you," said James. "As you should have known with me in this state and all. Really, Evans, how many times do I have to tell you I'm not in this for kicks?"

"I didn't know you had a sweet tongue," said Lily, drily. "I just think you should meet someone who could say no to you."

"Haven't I just?"

"But you won't settle for that, would you?" Lily said, laughing softly.

"In light of recent events, I think it's best for people not to give up."

"I don't think you should speak so lightly about that, Potter."

"Oh, believe me, Evans, I don't," said James, ruining the effect whe he added, "But who could think about Voldemort and his terrible feats when they're with you?"

"You're impossible," said Lily. And Sirius was strongly reminded of Remus in one of his uptight moods. "You think it's all a joke, don't you? Because we're all safe here in Hogwarts and the real world is miles away. Because you know that Voldemort's always been afraid of Dumbledore. Or do you have delusions of your own greatness, that Voldemort would be no match against you?"

"Do you think I'm an idiot, Evans?" said James. "Or a coward? You think I don't think about my family or everyone I know, and how I get nervous everytime the owls come to deliver my letters because that might mean news about someone getting killed or worse? What silly git do you take me for?"

There was a pause, then Sirius heard Lily mutter "I'm sorry" so softly he had to lean forward a bit to hear her properly, risking letting them catch a glimpse of the corners of his robes.

"Look, I know how serious all this business with Voldemort is, and I'm going to do all I can to help Dumbledore rally against him and the Death Eaters, are they are getting called. But that doesn't mean we have to stop living, you know?"

"And so we go back to that."

"Like I said, Evans, I never give up."

"Oh, all right. Now let me do my research in peace before McGonagal fails me for turning in a foot of blank parchment."

"Three Broomsticks okay with you? Then we could walk around, see the sights?" James used his best wheedling tone.

"All right."

Sirius made sure that both of them had walked away before going out of the library himself.

He had formulated his plan.

*

Remus had Arithmancy that afternoon with Sirius. The four of them had taken the same classes in their third year, but James had given Arithmancy up afterwards, saying it was a complete bore and switching to Runes instead. Remus thought this was a bit unfair, since James had gotten better marks than everyone else, but that was James for you. Peter switched to Runes when James did because he didn't want to get caught up alone between Sirius and Remus' fights.

In the middle of the lecture, Remus began doodling on his notes.

_1: Who sent those Chocolate Frogs? Is someone watching me? Do they know my secret?_

_2: Why didn't I switch to Runes when James did? Why didn't Sirius? Then we wouldn't be bored out of our wits right now. Then again, Runes aren't essentially more interesting than Arithmancy. Perhaps we should have tried Divination instead._

_3: What was he thinking back there at breakfast?_

_4: How is three more magical than four?_

Beside him, Sirius was on his third Sugar Quill. When he saw Remus looking at him, he held the half-consumed quill out.

"Want a lick?"

"You shouldn't eat candy in class."

"It keeps me awake," Sirius whispered back. "Besides, I wasn't exactly _eating_ anything. I was just nibbling on it a bit."

"And now you're offering it to me. Charming."

"You look half-asleep yourself, figured you could use it." Sirius shrugged, grinning lazily.

Remus raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

"What are you writing, anyway?"

"Haven't you heard about the concept of taking down notes, Padfoot?" Remus tapped at his own desk. "Not that you'd get much written, with those quills."

"I have a real one." Sirius rummaged inside his bookbag to produce a rather beaten-up pen. "See? Writes beautifully too. Pity it's not sweet. But you can't have everything in this world, can you?"

Sirius wrote something on his notebook, tore the page out and handed it to Remus.

"What's this? I'm not too keen on sending hexes by mail, you know," said Remus, looking suspiciously at the page.

"Take it before Flinchly notices," said Sirius, nodding in the direction of the Arithmancy professor.

Remus did, gingerly. He read the note.

_Would you go out on a date with me on Valentine's?_ it impossibly said. Remus flipped the page over, even though he knew Sirius had written nothing on the back.

"All in all I would rather the hex," he said.

"Would you really? I'm hurt, Remus."

"There must be some pressing reason for this," Remus went on. "If you're pining for some butterbeer we could all go for a couple, my shout."

"Don't joke around, mate, I'm _deadly_ _serious._"

"That's what I was afraid of," said Remus, grimly.

"I'll explain after class."

"There's an explanation. I like that." Remus relaxed. Best friend or not, he didn't trust Sirius. "This better be not one of those time-wasters."

*

What was important was that Remus shouldn't see him blushing. He laid out his plan as they walked to their Potions class. He felt like he was hiding too much from everybody, but that can't be helped. One day he would think about what he really felt about Remus, but _after_ he'd won the bet. It wasn't criminal to take one thing at a time.

"I heard James asking Evans out on a date," Sirius began.

"For Valentine's Day?" Sirius saw that Remus was catching on by the latter's grin. "What did she say?"

"She's going to the Three Broomsticks with him and a romantic walk around Hogsmeade afterwards."

"I think going out with you may have its merits, after all," said Remus, chewing on his lower lip. Sirius couldn't help noticing how white Remus' teeth were against the pinkish flesh, and how his lips looked so soft. If Sirius had been a few centimeters off back there during breakfast, he would have known by now.

If he played his cards right, maybe he still would.

"The thought has entered my mind as well."

"Are we going to tell Peter?"

"And ruin my time with you? How heartless can you be, Moony?"

Remus smiled, and Sirius felt himself blushing after all. He looked away, hoping that Remus didn't notice.

"I don't know about my heart," Remus went on as if nothing was wrong. "But I must be mental, agreeing to go out with you. Don't let anyone else know or all those girls who'd been making eyes at you are going to kill me."

"Moony, how could you? Is going out with me so bad you have to hide it from everyone? Are you ashamed of me, mate?"

"That too. I really must be mental."


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Harry Potter and the rest is to J.K. Rowling

Chapter Four

"What's that?"

"Nothing." Remus never prided himself for his reflexes, but he had to admit that he managed to stick the new box of Chocolate Frogs back in his bag in record time quite beautifully.

"Is that candy?" Sirius went on, leaning down over Remus. "Don't want to share, do you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Padfoot."

"Come on, Moony, how can you keep secrets from your boyfriend like that?" Sirius put on a hurt-face.

"Mr. Moony would like to ask Mr. Padfoot what he means by boyfriend—" Remus began.

"Aren't we going out with each other?"

"One date, Sirius, doesn't constitute a relationship," said Remus, drily. "Don't be a git."

"Remus, how is it that you care nothing for my poor heart?"

"I don't know how come you haven't noticed it yet, but you don't have a heart."

"You may have a point there, Moony," said Sirius, discarding the hurt-face and replacing it with a sort of dewy expression that Remus sees on James whenever he sees Lily Evans. "I don't have a heart because you have it there already, in your hands."

Remus choked. "That's in real bad taste, you know."

Sirius leaned further down, ignoring the fact that Remus was shrinking away from him in a manner very much unlike a werewolf's.

"Moony—"

"Yes, Padfoot?"

"I really hate it when my friends keep secrets from me. Especially you." Sirius reached down and pulled the box of Chocolate Frogs from Remus' bag. "Now, what have we here? Candy, as I thought... and a _card._"

"Give that back."

"Hope to see you on Valentine's Day," Sirius read from the card. "Hearts and kisses, your _Pink Bunny_?????" His voice rose when he said the last words, and Remus was just bracing himself against his friend's imminent laughter when Sirius went on, "Who is this, Moony-kins?"

"I have no idea," said Remus, faintly. "Did you just call me 'Moony-kins'?"

"As your boyfriend, I'm perfectly entitled to call you anything I want," said Sirius. "And I'm also perfectly entitled to inquire as to your little amours, your _cheating heart_, Moony."

"You're scaring me, Sirius."

"I can't believe you, Rem. You have been keeping this all to yourself, haven't you?" said Sirius. "What kind of friend are you, mate?"

"Look, it's not like I know what that Pink Bunny is," Remus began. "Besides—"

"Yes?"

Remus refused to meet Sirius' eyes although he knew Sirius was trying to catch his own. It was well known among the Marauders that it was impossible to tell what Remus was thinking unless they look into his eyes.

"I was afraid that someone else might know about my secret."

"What secret?"

They both turned around to see Amelia Waterhouse standing close to where they always sat during Arithmancy classes. Amelia played Chaser for Gryffindor, and she was one of Lily's friends, so Remus thought she was a decent enough girl, but she did have an unhealthy sort of interest in Sirius.

"Secret?" Remus said, mildly.

"Yes, secret. I heard you talking in whispers. Really suspicious, if you ask me. I hope you don't get expelled for whatever you're planning."

"Of course not," Sirius snorted.

"Then what _were_ you talking about?" Amelia said.

"We were talking about our date for Valentine's, if you must know," said Sirius, quite nastily. Sometimes, Remus thought, the only thing saving Sirius from being a downright git was the fact that he was beautiful.

"You're going out with each other?" Amelia burst out, louder than Remus thought necessary. She turned to Sirius. "With Remus?"

"Yes, Waterhouse. With my adorable little Remykins here."

Remus felt Sirius' hands on his shoulder, the strong grip as the other boy pulled Remus close in a one-armed embrace.

Amelia opened her mouth to say something else, but then the door opened and Professor Flinchly walked inside the classroom.

"Is something the matter, Waterhouse?" the professor said, squinting up at Amelia like a short-sighted goblin.

"Nothing, professor," Amelia mumbled, moving back to her seat.

Remus looked down the floor and wondered what he needed to do to make it swallow him up.

*

"Mr. Prongs would like to extend his congratulations to Mr. Padfoot for having succeeded at asking Mr. Moony out on a date."

"Mr. Padfoot thanks Mr. Prongs and asks him not to say anything more about the matter as he is not inclined to talk about it right now."

James sighed, leaning back against the bleachers and looking up at the goal hoops like he had never seen the like before.

"This doesn't mean you've won, you know."

"Indeed, mate, I'm very aware of the fact."

"A kiss, Sirius, before Valentine's day ends," said James. "Unless you could find another way to let us know that Remus is indeed burning with passion for you. From what I can see now, I don't think he's too happy about the matter, is he?"

"Well, that's—" Sirius began, then remembering what he had said earlier, he stopped. "None of you business, James, old boy."

"Now you're keeping secrets from me? You're really ready to fly from the nest, aren't you?" James said.

"I'd tell you all my secrets if you tell me yours." Sirius grinned.

James blushed tellingly, backing off from Sirius a few steps. "What makes you think I have one?"

"I don't know, mate. Probably because your face looks red as a beet?" Sirius said, sweetly. "Bones is waving you over."

James turned around to see the Quidditch captain making expansive gestures in the middle of the field. Five other people were making their way towards him, most of them dragging their broomsticks against the ground. More than half of them were less than awake and none had eaten breakfast yet.

"Well, I'll be getting there then." James allowed a look of relief pass over his face. "You'll wait for me?"

"There's something I need to do. I'll just meet you over the Great Hall, okay?"

*

If there was a time Remus needed James' Invisibility Cloak more, he couldn't remember it. The only thing he was grateful for was the fact that it was Peter going down the Great Hall with him and not Sirius.

"Hey, Black's going out with Loopy, have you heard?"

"Always knew they were a couple of queers, if you ask me—"

"Never knew Black would actually go for a half-blood—"

"Forget about half-bloods, have you seen the state of his _robes?_"

"What they really should be worrying about is that the infamous Sirius Black is actually dating a _prefect,_ don't you think?" Peter said, between giggles.

"James is dating one," said Remus, rather shortly. "Why can't Sirius?"

"Oooh, are you sticking up for him now?" said Peter.

"Well, as he's apparently my boyfriend, I don't see why not."

"Is this sarcasm that I detect in Mr. Moony's tone?"

"Me? Sarcastic, Mr. Wormtail?" said Remus. "Must be another person."

"Well, now that you have a boyfriend, your secret admirer might stop sending you stuff, right? You being taken and all?" said Peter. Of course Sirius had told the rest of the Marauders about the Pink Bunny incident as soon as he could, which was during lunchtime the day before. And as far as Remus could tell, none of them had been able to fully grasp the gravity of the matter.

"We ought to be grateful for small mercies, right, Remus?"

"What's that, Padfoot?" said Peter, who had turned around as soon as both of them heard the other boy's voice.

"Oh, this?" Sirius looked up at the box he was carrying like it had dropped out of the sky. "Nothing much."

"That's a big nothing much there," said Remus, justifiably, since the box was almost as tall as Peter was, and just as wide. "Whom did you kill this time?"

"Some Slytherin berk who was making fun of you," said Sirius.

"Be serious."

"I am, love." Sirius winked at him, making Remus want to crawl under one of the tables as most of the students in the Great Hall started looking at them like they were a broadcasted Quidditch match. "Here you go."

Remus reached out instinctively when Sirius handed him the box. It was fairly heavy, and Remus had to wonder just how far Sirius had carried the thing, and where it had come from.

"What's this?" he said. _Please, please, please let it be a hex this time._

With his kind of luck, of course, Remus should have known what to expect. Peter, who wasn't a patient person from the start, had already started on opening the box to reveal enough candies and cakes to feed each and every one Gryffindor staring at Remus Lupin and Sirius Black with open mouths.

"Can't say that you have a cheap boyfriend, right?" said Sirius, grinning.

*

That was a joke, and as the saying goes, every joke was half-meant.

Sirius rested his chin on top of the table, letting his fringe cover half of his face. It was unusual for him to actually spend time alone, nor did he want to, since he wasn't too keen on getting bored with his own company. But James was in the Quidditch field for another gruelling training with Peter in tow and as much as Sirius loved his friends, he wasn't quite in the mood for sitting down the bleachers when it was cold enough outside for icicles to form under one's nose. At rare times like these when Sirius wasn't with James it was usually Remus who kept him company, but in light of recent events, Sirius knew it was probably best if he stayed away from Remus for a while.

Now that most of the school knew that the two boys were 'going out', Remus not only has to deal with Sirius' admirers but also the rest of the Hogwarts staff. It amused Sirius to see that most of their professors felt torn about the matter. Keeping the wizarding community a secret from the rest of the world in general made most witches and wizards tolerant about issues like homosexuality and the rest, or so they want to think. This was all very well in theory, but finding out that there were a couple of queers in Hogwarts itself was another thing entirely and no one was really sure how to react to the matter.

Professor McGonagall, head of the Gryffindor House, only sniffed when she heard the news, saying quite loudly that she hoped Remus would be able to keep Sirius some from mischief when it seemed that nothing else could calm the boy down. This made the rest of the professors think that expressing any kind of opposite reaction would not only be in bad form, but would probably be looked down upon as some sort of Death Eater activity.

With the rest of the school aside, though, what Sirius was really worried about was how Remus was taking it. They haven't had the chance to talk privately since he'd given Remus the large box from Honeydukes, and Sirius was wondering if Remus was avoiding him.

If it had been another person, Sirius would have had gone ahead as he usually does, allowing chance to do the rest. But for some reason he wasn't quite ready to think about just yet, he couldn't quite let his chances with Remus fall solely on luck. Remus was the kind of person who thought everyone of his actions through before actually doing anything, and Sirius knew that the other boy deserved some space at the very least.

Except that they were really just going out to spy on James and Lily and Sirius had just blown the whole thing out of proportion.

"Hey."

Sirius looked up to see Remus looking down at him from behind, both eyebrows raised and a smile hovering on his lips.

"Moony."

"This is quite an unexpected development, seeing you alone in the library," said Remus, sitting down next to Sirius. "What gives?"

"Quidditch practice," said Sirius, shortly.

"Hm." Remus placed his stack of books between them and began rummaging in his bag for his notes.

"Hey, Moony," Sirius began. He waited for Remus to look up from his copy of _Advanced Potion Making_, one hand fiddling with the corners of his robes. "You're not angry at me?"

"Why should I be?" Remus smiled.

"Well, I figured you didn't quite enjoy that scene back there in the Great Hall," Sirius let his voice trail off. For some reason, his chest felt like there were Peppermint Toads inside instead of his heart. Maybe Remus was right, after all.

"I wasn't crazy about it, but you were just trying to protect me from that Pink Bunny thing, right? I mean, they're not really looking at me right now as _Remus Lupin_, you know. Just Sirius Black's boyfriend." Remus laughed gently. "Besides, Cauldron Cakes are pretty nice."

"So we're still on, Valentine's Day?"

"To see James' first date with Lily? Wouldn't miss it for the world."

The realization hit Sirius like a stray Bludger while he was looking at Remus' smiling face; the reason why he was acting like a hopeless git in the first place:

He was jealous of other people looking at Remus.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Harry Potter and the rest is to J.K. Rowling

Chapter Five

Sirius acting kind and considerate was Sirius acting out of character, and normally Remus would have been suspicious of the other boy. But right now, Remus was in something of a fix and he'd take all the help that he can. Even if Sirius apparently wasn't aware of the fact that he'd been helping Remus in the first place.

"Where are you going?"

Of course, there was also the fact that the other boy was being over-protective. Remus sighed, turning back to the common room before he could actually open the panel to get out.

"Prefects' meeting. Don't you dare suggest that you accompany me there."

"Mr. Padfoot thinks that ickle Moony-kins is being a tad mean," said Sirius. "Which is somewhat in bad form for the latter, since Mr. Padfoot had the best intentions in asking—"

"Shove it, Padfoot, I'm late enough as it is." Remus pushing the portrait of the Fat Lady open and stepping out of the Gryffindor common room hurriedly. James and Peter being suspiciously out of sight, he had the feeling that Sirius was just using the situation as an excuse to fight boredom.

"You'd be fine on your own, love?" Sirius called out, making some first year girls giggle over their homework. Unlike their older counterparts, the younger set were surprisingly frank about their reaction to Sirius and Remus' so-called relationship.

Remus didn't answer, swinging the portrait closed with a bang over the hole and making the Fat Lady squeak at him indignantly. Knowing Sirius, Remus was expecting the other boy to follow him anyway. So when he heard the portrait swing open again, he turned around fully prepared to give the other boy a piece of his mind.

"I thought I told—"

"Remus?" Lily Evans was looking at him with a smile hovering over her lips, one eyebrow raised quizzically. "Is something wrong?"

"Lily!" said Remus, blushing. "Sorry. I thought you were someone else."

"I could imagine," Lily said, with a wry laugh. "I told him I'd walk with you if that would make him feel better, so unless you want to make a liar out of me…."

"I owe you my sanity, then," said Remus.

"Hm, I didn't think it was as bad as all that," Lily observed.

"Am I that obvious?" He wasn't too worried where Lily was concerned, though. Being the sort of girl not usually seen even in such an excellent place as Hogwarts, Remus knew that if he could trust his secret to any girl, that girl would be Lily Evans. It wasn't surprising for James to fall for such a girl, anyway.

"I don't think anyone else has noticed. But you _are_ supposed to be going out with each other, right? What's the problem, then?"

Remus found himself blushing a deeper shade of red and feeling absurdly glad that there were just the two of them in the hallways.

"It's not really anything like that."

"Well, what's it like, then?"

Remus said nothing for several seconds, putting on what the rest of the Marauders called his 'game face', used usually to mask very quick thinking. Having gone far enough just to spy on James and Lily's first date, Remus didn't think giving the game up was still an option.

"It's a dare, actually. A sort of bet."

"Hm," said Lily. She stopped walking, bracing one hand against the mullioned windows and looking outside. "Are you sure you _are_ all right, Remus?"

Remus knew there was no way for Lily to tell just how guilty he was feeling for making her worry over such a mental thing, the thought didn't help make him feel less like a git, however.

"They're really not so bad, you know. They just get carried away once in a while," he said. "It's just that everyone thinks they're so cool, and it's hard not to let all that admiration get to your head, right?"

"You're being too kind," said Lily, dryly. "But you're their friend, so I guess you see them in a different way. They wouldn't hex you for the heck of it, would they?"

"You have no idea, Lily," said Remus, remembering the fight the Marauders had when Sirius had told Snape how to get into the Shrieking Shack one night of the full moon. "I'm not really making excuses for them. You're right, they _are_ my friends and they stand by me even though I—" He let his voice trail off.

"I guess they're not really as bad as all that," said Lily.

Remus breathed a sigh of relief. He can't believe he almost told Lily Evans that he was a werewolf. He should warn James to keep his wits about him around the girl. Not that James would ever think of anything else (like his lowly friends) when he's with Lily.

"You really should give James a chance, you know," Remus put in, slowly. "Not that I'm telling you what to do and all, it's just that—well, maybe he'd shut up if you actually agree to go out with him or something."

"Did he put you up to this?" said Lily, with a small smile. She had turned back to look at Remus, but the shadows thrown off by the lamps and candles strewn around the hallway hid most of her face from view.

"He wouldn't need to," said Remus.

"You know, Remus, you should start thinking about your own feelings instead of other people's."

"Which means?" said Remus, betraying nervousness for the first time. He'd always thought Lily Evans could have a go at replacing McGonagall in the future.

"What about thinking about Sirius Black?" Lily nodded at Remus, gesturing that they should start walking again. They were going to be really late for the prefects' meeting, but it being the first time they'd played hooky, neither of them thought it would make much of a difference.

"I told you, it was just a bet," said Remus.

Lily laughed. "Then you better remind _him_ of that fact."

"What do you mean?" said Remus.

"It means that we're more similar than we think," said Lily. She wouldn't say any more, even though Remus kept asking her to the point of being something of a pest. He was starting to remind himself of Sirius.

Great. Not only do they have to 'come out' to the rest of Hogwarts, they were acting like each other, too.

*

James and Peter got back to the dorm some minutes after Remus had left the common room. Loaded with several bottles of butterbeer and some chocolate pudding, they jumped all over Sirius' bed and demanded to know the latest.

"What do you mean?" said Sirius, who was too bored to make a witty reply.

"The purpose of our going away for food being to leave you and Mr. Moony alone," Peter began. "Mr. Prongs and I would like to inquire as to the developments—"

"There were no developments, as you so elegantly put it, Mr. Wormtail, since Mr. Moony had to go away to a prefect's meeting before I could even say 'Merlin's frilly knickers'." Sirius began attacking the chocolate pudding like it was a personal affront.

"Nobody really says that," said James. "And don't take it out on the food if you're slow, mate."

"Who are you calling slow, Potter?"

"Well, it's just a couple of days before Valentine's and nothing's happened yet, according to yourself. But I'm sorry for jumping at conclusions, Padfoot."

"Fuck off."

"Wake up and smell the butterbeer, Black," said James, waving his own bottle around in front of Sirius. "You're just as bad as me about Evans when it comes to Lupin, so don't try to act like you're any different."

If Sirius had been in his dog form then, he would have growled at James and shown his fangs. Since he wasn't, and he didn't relish shedding on his own bed, he opted for the iciest treatment he was capable of. "Pardon?"

"Don't go all Black and mighty on me," said James, unperturbed. "So you're in love with your best friend. What's the big deal?"

"Maybe because ickle Moony-kins doesn't love him back?" said Peter, sweetly.

Sirius fought the very strong urge to strangle the small boy on the spot.

"May I inquire as to how Mr. Prongs and Mr. Wormtail arrived at such a conclusion?"

"Well," said James, gamely. He settled down on Sirius' bed like someone who had been waiting to be asked this for a long time and had already planned the scene out in his head. "You were always looking at him when we were in the first year, right?"

"I was?" said Sirius.

"He was?" said Peter, giggling.

"Yeah. We followed him in the train, right? So we could get to know him better. And that's how you found out he was a werewolf in the first place. You won't leave him alone." James smirked.

"That was because he looked so damned scared all the time. I was just being nice," said Sirius. The first time he'd seen Remus Lupin, the latter barely stood taller than Peter himself, looking at everything from behind his too-long fringe and his own shyness. "Some Slytherin berks were making fun of him. I wasn't just going to stand there, right?"

"He more than showed himself capable of protecting himself, though," said Peter, remembering. "No one better than Lupin at Charms. Except maybe Evans."

"What else?" said Sirius, before James could get onto the subject of Evans. "Understand that I'm not buying any of this, Potter. I just want to hear the rest."

"You worry more about him than you worry about anyone else, even yourself," James went on.

"Come to think of it, it was _your_ idea for us to turn into Animagi!" Peter said, with dawning realization.

"How many people can say they'd been running around with a werewolf?" said Sirius. "Why don't you think with your brains instead of your—"

"So we became Animagi. You turned into a dog."

"It's not like I can choose the form I'm going to take, can I?"

"No, but that's only half of the story, right?" said Peter. "For all we know, you're burning desire to be with Moony—running around with him at night, as you say—has resulted into your turning into this animal form that greatly resembles Remus himself."

"Then I should have turned myself into a wolf and not a dog! And I didn't say that 'running around' thing like that."

"Full of lust, you mean?" said James, who couldn't help but dissolve into helpless laughter. "Just admit it, Black. You're smitten and you didn't even know it."

"I didn't—" Sirius began. Then, realizing that it was a battle he was never going to win, he sighed. "Think what you want then. It has nothing to do with our bet, anyway. And can you get your hands off that pudding?"

"You already ate yours," Peter pointed out.

"Yeah. But ickle Moony-kins still hasn't had any yet and I'm saving it all for him." Sirius grabbed as much food as he could comfortably carry and placed them on top of his trunk, daring the rest of the Marauders to say anything about it.

"Oy! _We_ bought that food, for your information, from Honeydukes. Miles and miles away from here, you can't imagine the leg cramps. And I thought we were going to stop the 'Let's bully Peter away from his share' routine," said Peter, all thoughts of romance between his friends forgotten as soon as someone mentioned food.

"Too bad, mate." Sirius took note of James' smirk, but then again, who cares about his git friends if Remus smiles at him like he did back there in the library? And bullying Peter just happened to be a happy bonus.

*

The Marauders were eating dinner down at the Great Hall when Sirius realized something. It was as plain as the nose on his face, actually, and he wondered why he hadn't thought about it before.

"Moony," he said, turning towards Remus, who was sitting beside him.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," said Remus, brushing crumbs from his shoulder.

"You know, Moony, I—"

"Yes?"

Sirius took note of the fact that Remus' eyes were the color of tea with milk, which was irrelevant to his realization, but still seemed important somehow.

"I think I'm in love—"

"You are? Splendid, mate! Such perfect news to make my day!" James piped in. He was leaning across the table to hear Sirius better, getting some of the sauce from the pot roast on his sleeves. Peter's eyes bulged out of their sockets, and he was looking around to see if anyone else was listening.

"With Edith Blewett!" Sirius finished.

"With," said James.

"Edith," said Peter.

"Blewett?" said Remus, faintly. The other boy's face hovered between expressions of surprise and amusement. Sirius had the feeling that Remus would very much like to collapse into nervous, hysterical laughter except that he was Remus Lupin and Remus Lupin didn't do such things.

"Yes. Edith Blewett, fourth year Ravenclaw, you know," said Sirius, briskly. "Charming woman. The love of my life."

"Bollocks!" said James.

Remus turned to face James with a frown on his face, but he said nothing. Sirius on the other hand, reached out to grab his best friend's arm.

"Sirius, that hurts," said Remus, softly.

"Don't!" Sirius barked out. His chest felt like there was a Bludger loose in it, and he had the unbelievable urge to burst into tears. He wondered if that was how love felt like, and why everyone's making so much fuss over it, unpleasant feeling that it was.

"Don't what? Sirius, are you okay?" Remus leaned over, looking scared now. He reached out, touching Sirius' hand, which was still on his arm even though the grip wasn't as strong as before. "You look... er, terrified."

"I don't know," whispered Sirius.

"I think he needs to go to the Infirmary," said Peter. "Looks pretty green, if you ask me."

"Such a colourful life, Black," quipped James.

Remus stood up, still holding Sirius' hand. "I think Peter's right. Let's go, Sirius."

Sirius tried to regroup. He'd never heard of anyone being sent to Madam Pomfrey on account of falling in love. Imagining how Regulus was going to relate the incident to their mother was making him as nauseated as he apparently looks. "I'm fine. Just... Edith Blewett, you know?"

"Yes, Padfoot," said Remus. He smiled. "You'll see her anytime you want to, anyway. Let's go?"

Siris nodded, then considered what he'd done. "Wait! No, we won't go. Damn it, Moony, don't confuse me!"

"I wasn't."

"Hopeless wally," said James, who was looking pretty green himself from holding back his laughter. Some of the other Gryffindors were looking up from their plates and at the Marauders. No one was paying much attention, though, since the Marauders have always been known to raise a big fuss in the Great Hall whenever they felt like it.

"What have you done, James?" said Remus, quietly.

"Nothing!" said James, holding his hands up. "Hell, Moony, why do you have to accuse me of every—"

"Because I can't very well accuse Sirius of hexing himself, right?" said Remus, justifiably. "Did you make him eat something, or—" His voice trailed off. Sirius looked up to see that Remus was wearing the game face.

"I'm not bewitched, Moony, unless you consider being smitten by Edith's lovely face bewitched. Which makes sense, once you think about it," said Sirius. "Do I have to be hexed to say that I love somebody?"

"Yes," said Peter and Remus.

James laughed before answering, "Yes."

"Fine, fine—"

"If you're really fine, Sirius, why haven't you let go of my hand yet?" said Remus. "I can't feel my fingers anymore."

Sirius looked down, opening his mouth to argue that it was Remus who had held his hand in the first place. When he saw the palest violet tinge to Remus' skin where Sirius was holding him tightly, Sirius began to change his mind.

"Okay. I think I'm not so fine, after all."

Afterword: It was cut in such an awkward moment, huh? Sorry about that. This is all going to make sense later on, I promise! Or have you figured it out already?


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Harry Potter and all the rest is to J.K. Rowling. But you know that already, so let's get on with it:

Chapter Six

Sirius Black threatened and Sirius Black pleaded, but when Madam Pomfrey began to make tutting sounds whenever she happened to pass by, Remus had to stand up and leave his love-struck friend all but tied down one of the beds (Madam Pomfrey, well aware of Sirius' reputation, had tucked the sheets around him so tightly it was all he can do to turn sideways) and loudly complaining about Remus' lack of sympathy.

"And here I thought you loved me, Moony. How can you leave your boyfriend bored and alone here?"

Remus looked sideways at Madam Pomfrey, who was surreptitiously listening to the boys' conversation.

"Maybe since you dropped me like a hot potato for Edith Blewett?" Remus suggested, with a smirk. Being in the position where he had Sirius Black at his mercy as common as Snape maybe washing his underpants, Remus had to be a really good liar to say that he wasn't enjoying himself. If a small voice in his head was telling him that he was being vindictive, he could always pass it off as general white noise.

"I—" Sirius blushed, making Remus wish he had been able to save up for a camera after all. This was really a scene that needed to be preserved for their progeny (if any). "That's not the point here, and you know it! How was I supposed to know there was love potion in that bloody pudding, anyway?"

"What pudding?" said Remus, sitting back down, to Madam Pomfrey's dismay.

"The pudding I ate before dinner? There was no way anyone could have put the potion in the pot roast without you guys falling for Edith Blewett too, right?" Sirius shuddered when he said Edith Blewett's name. Remus had to feel a bit bad for the girl.

"I ate that pudding, too, you know."

"I know that you love me more than anything, Moony. No amount of poorly-brewed love potion could change that."

"What else did you eat before that?" said Remus, choosing to ignore Sirius' comment.

"Chocolate Frogs?"

Remus leaped forward suddenly, narrowly missing hitting the other boy's stomach with his fists. "The ones from my desk? The Pink Bunny chocolates?"

Sirius shrugged, trying for casual. "They might have been."

"Is there anything you want that I can give you, Sirius?"

"How about a kiss?" said Sirius, tapping at his own lips with one finger and raising his eyebrows at Remus.

"I thought you'd grown out of that idea," said Remus, pulling back a bit. "Don't be stupid."

"Then get me out of here!"

"Sorry, mate. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast, okay?" Remus straightened up, then, seeing the look on Sirius' face, he relented a bit. "You're reacting badly to Edith's potion, so I think it's best if you stay here."

"Worried about me?"

"It's your fault for being a nosy git, but I won't have you poisoned on my account, yes," Remus said, exasperatedly. "I've never heard of anyone who had a panic attack after drinking a love potion."

"It was your fault for confusing me like that!" said Sirius, testily. He struggled a bit against the bed sheets in an attempt to sit up and Remus made a mental note to ask the school nurse how she does it. "I was doing fine bewitched to vow eternal love to that bloody munter—("Sirius!" said Remus.)—and you just had to ruin it all by looking at me like that."

"How was I looking at you?" said Remus, thinking back on it with something approaching dread.

"I don't know!" said Sirius, settling back down on the bed suddenly and looking away from Remus. "Mr. Padfoot bids Mr. Moony good night and wishes him to leave the room already."

Remus sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Sirius didn't answer. Remus leaned down again, one hand reaching out to touch Sirius' hair. But then he looked at Madam Pomfrey, who was frowning at him prodigiously, and left the room as Sirius had asked him to.

*

"So, what's that all about?" said James, as soon as Remus had returned from the Infirmary. The other Gryffindors went on with their own business as usual, but James and Remus knew that they were all waiting eagerly to hear Remus' answer. There was an ongoing bet among the Quidditch team (and some other students from the higher years) about the reason that would get Sirius Black sent to the Infirmary at last, and as far as anyone knew, Sirius hadn't gotten Transfigured into another giant squid (as Peter was betting on). Nor was he quite mortally wounded by Remus (the option with the highest bet).

"Bad stomach," said Remus, glibly. There was a chorus of groans, while someone laughed loudly. "Nothing life-threatening, but I can't have my poor Siwikins fall sick like that, can I?"

"Something he ate?" said Peter, amidst a jangle of Galleons.

"Yes," said Remus. "It was indeed something he ate."

"Bully for him," said James, who was acting mightily pissed off for some reason Remus can't fathom. Unless James was betting on the giant squid option as well. He took a loaded plate from the desk and handed it to Remus. "Here, Evans asked me to save you some."

"Thanks, James." Remus smiled, looking surreptitiously in Lily's direction. She was talking to one of her friends, pretending that she didn't know that he was looking at her. "This roast is excellent, really. Too bad Sirius wasn't able to enjoy the rest of it."

*

The next day, Remus excused himself from going with James and Peter to the Infirmary to 'fetch' Sirius, saying that he needed to check something in the library.

"You can do that later on, right?" said Peter. "Come on, it's your boyfriend we're talking about, Remus."

"I've got Madam Pomfrey breathing down the back of my neck the whole time I was with him last night," said Remus. "An experience I don't want to repeat any time soon, thanks very much."

"Probably thought you were going to make out or something," said James, cheerfully. He seemed to have recovered his good spirits after last night, having realized belatedly that Lily Evans had just talked to him without telling him off for something.

"Grotty!" said Peter, just as cheerfully. "But better in the Infirmary than the dorm, right? How about the Shrieking Shack?"

"That's why it's called a _Shrieking_ Shack, Peter," said James.

"If you sex-starved gits are done with that," said Remus, while the others snorted happily. "I'll be seeing you for Transfiguration, right?"

"Happy hunting," said James, waving at him. He'd taken Muggle studies for several terms to piss Burbage off, he said, but really because he wanted to see where Lily Evans was coming from. Remus didn't hold it against him, but it was still pretty surprising to hear James quoting from the same Muggle books that Remus had read growing up (salvaged novels from the library). Remus loved _The Jungle Book_ and had spent some sleepless nights with James discussing Kipling's finer points. The rest of the Marauders had to read the thing as well since James kept on pestering them.

"Yes," said Remus, waiting for James and Peter to get around the corner before heading for the Ravenclaw tower. One Ravenclaw prefect had told him how to get there, although Remus hadn't really thought much about it at the time. This information had proved useful in writing the Marauder's Map, but hadn't been put to actual use by any of the Marauders. James, who could be decent if he wanted to, was all for leaving the towers for the different Houses as obscure as possible. ("That's something the future generation of magical mischief makes need to figure out for themselves.")

This is how Remus found himself standing before the Ravenclaw door looking like something of an idiot since he didn't know how to work the thing. He had already spent several minutes staring at the eagle-shaped knocker on the door when one Ravenclaw fifth year saw him loitering outside and asked him what he wanted, casting wary looks at the prefect badge Remus had pinned on his jumper.

"Is Edith Blewett in there?" said Remus, wondering if the news of Sirius falling for the Ravenclaw fourth year had gotten around already. The Marauders had done what they could to keep things discreet, but in a place like Hogwarts, you never knew.

"Oh, let me check," said the fifth year, whose name Remus could vaguely remember as Justin or Jeff. He walked towards the door and took a long time with it before managing to get inside. "Yeah, she's there. You want me to call her for you?"

"Yes," said Remus. "Please."

Edith Blewett was a rather lanky, sharp-faced fourth year who had a bush of curly blonde hair and a nice mouth. Remus, who wasn't nearly as tall as Sirius, had to look up at her the whole time they were talking, which didn't help make him feel comfortable at all.

"Yes? You're Remus Lupin, right?"

"Er—yes...?"

"Did you want me for something?" Edith said. She looked down at her shoes to hide her blushing face, making Remus squirm a bit.

"I was just going to ask about the chocolates," said Remus.

"Oh! Yes, I... well, I hope they were all right."

"They were fine—"

Edith looked up suddenly, bouncing a bit on her toes and almost falling down on Remus in the process.

"Did James like them? What did he say?"

"James?" said Remus, blankly.

"Yes. James! Did he send you for something?" She was now looking at him like Remus had started talking in troll.

"Ah, yes," said Remus, hunting around his pockets desperately. He came up with an eraser, the stub of a pencil and a piece of mint. A search around his robes was more forthcoming, however, since he still had some of the Peppermint Toads from Sirius' large box. "He wanted me to give this to you. Said a load of tosh about his Pink Bunny and all."

"James called me that?" Edith said, blushing more vividly. She scuffed the toe of her shoes against the walls, looking uncertainly at Remus. "Did he really say Pink Bunny? Does he like bunnies?"

"Sure. Loves them, actually. He even has a couple of soft bunny toys in bed with him and swears he couldn't sleep without them," said Remus, warming to his theme. "Well, I have to go, okay?"

Edith didn't seem to hear him, looking at her box of Peppermint Toads like it was a legendary spell that could kill Voldemort. Remus looked back before going down the stairs back to the Great Hall, but she hadn't taken her eyes off the box at all.

*

Sirius was waiting for him in front of the Transfiguration classroom. Remus, still a bit turned around by his interview with Edith Blewett, tried to ignore him, but Sirius reached out to grab his arm before he could get inside the classroom.

"Where have you been?"

"The library. Didn't James and Peter tell you?" said Remus, mildly.

"I didn't see you there," Sirius said, leaning down over Remus in his best intimidating manner. This was intimidating enough, except that it never seemed to work on Remus. "Where have you been, Moony?"

"All right, if you must know." Remus sighed. "I was with Edith Blewett."

"You what?"

"Keep your voice down! I was just checking on who sent those chocolates, you know."

"So what did she say?" said Sirius, frowning. "I mean, going for a guy who's already got a boyfriend like that. You did tell her that nothing in the world can induce you to leave me, right?"

"Why don't you stop interrupting me and keep still?" suggested Remus. "And you might want to take it all back when you've heard this." Quickly, he told Sirius what Edith Blewett had said. Sirius laughed a bit on the soft bunny toys bit, but by the time Remus had finished, he was grinning in a way that would have made most of the people at Hogwarts check their beds first before getting onto them. That is, if there was anyone else to see Sirius' grin aside from Remus.

"That git. What does he mean by it, anyway?"

"I don't know, Padfoot. Why don't _you_ tell me?"

Sirius stepped back. "What are you saying, Moony?"

"I'm saying that you guys are up to something and were assuming that I wouldn't notice." Remus crossed his arms over his chest. "Now spill, _love_."

"I don't think it's something you'd want to know about, Moony."

"Try me."

Sirius threw up his hands. Then looking around the deserted hallway, he stepped closer to where Remus was standing again.

"But only under duress, okay?" he said, before leaning down and pressing his lips against Remus'.

If Voldemort suddenly appeared at Hogwarts to burn it to the ground, Remus wouldn't have bothered to bat an eyelash. He doubted he'd even notice if Godric Gryffindor rose from the grave and led the rest of the Hogwarts population down the hallway in an impromptu parade. What _did_ register on Remus' mind was that Sirius Black was kissing him, actually pressing his lips against Remus', even if Sirius' lips felt dry and chapped and uncertain. And then Remus had to agree with Professor Flitwick when the latter said something about the imagined being nothing compared to the real thing while teaching the class about Conjuring Charms.

"What—wait," said Remus.

"No one's looking at you, Moony," said Sirius. "Just me."

"Is this some side-effect of that potion?"

"Be serious for once, will you?"

"Isn't that your department?"

They were both blushing. Remus hoped that anyone passing by and seeing them would think this was because of anger than anything else.

"Our date's tomorrow. Don't be late, Remus." Sirius straightened up, heading towards the classroom at the same time McGonagall reached the door.

"Lupin, Black! What are you loitering around the hallways for? Haven't you seen enough of each other that you need to talk _before_ class?"

*

Afterword: If you didn't see that kiss coming, I must assure you that neither did I. Finally, we get to Sirius and Remus' date... and possibly the final chapter. Thanks for getting this far!


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Harry Potter and all the rest is to J.K. Rowling.

This having turned out longer than I expected, I think it's going to take another chapter or two to wrap things up. Yay, miscalculations!

Chapter Seven

Sirius Black woke up with mixed feelings of excitement and apprehension, the sum of it making his stomach feel heavy and fluttery at the same time. It made the time he ate Edith Blewett's bloody chocolates seem like a happy romp in the school grounds, but there you have it. All in all, he'd rather have one hopping mad Remus Lupin over Edith Blewett any day.

Sirius turned to his side, sitting halfway up, when he heard footsteps coming close to his bed. There was a sharp click that was the lock of a trunk getting opened, followed by the creaking of hinges.

Now, for the preservation of the sanity of the Hogwarts population in general and the Gryffindors in particular, Sirius Black and James Potter had been made to sleep as far away from each other as possible, with Peter and Remus in between. It didn't help stop nightly mischief-making but Sirius couldn't grudge other people their false sense of security.

What other people didn't know about Sirius Black, however, was that he was a ridiculously light sleeper. The scratching of a single mouse in the next room would be enough to wake him up in the middle of the night. In fact, Sirius hated sleeping in the first place. It took a lot of time, and his time—given over to various experiments and interesting matters—was too precious to waste on lying down doing nothing. This already made sleeping pretty much on par with keeping Filch happy, but Sirius had other things to contend with.

It was Peter's snoring. During regular periods, nights in the sixth year boys' dorm was a pretty quiet affair, punctuated only by James or Sirius sharing ideas on how to best write a hex on food or other appealing articles (Snape's clothes being a favourite for a while). But come a particularly stressful week requiring mental callisthenics of a higher kind, Peter's air pipes just go bonkers, resulting to snores and chortling sounds to rival a wounded troll packed tight in a cave.

Which all led to the conclusion that, as far as neighbours went, Sirius' best bet was Remus Lupin. And Remus only agreed to sleep on the bed next to Sirius' after extracting a written promise from everyone not to do anything daft to him when he's sleeping.

This of course meant that the person opening his trunk this early in the morning could be no other than Remus Lupin, and Remus Lupin being awake before Sirius himself is out of bed happens only once in a blue moon, all puns naturally intended.

Unable to help himself, Sirius pulled back the hangings from his bed and peered out. "Moony?"

Remus jumped a bit. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Surprise people like that. Would it have hurt you to make yawning noises before popping your head out of there?" said Remus, leaning down to peer into his own trunk with a frown. "Have you seen _any _pair of my trousers at all?"

"It wasn't a full moon yesterday," Sirius pointed out.

"I noticed."

"Why are you up now?" Sirius gestured towards the windows, which allowed them a portioned view of the pre-dawn darkness outside. "You don't need to catch up on anything, as far as I can tell."

Remus seemed to become very interested in looking at the bottom of his trunk. "I couldn't sleep very well."

"That's new."

"Sod off, Sirius. Have you seen any of my trousers?"

Sirius smiled, sitting up slowly. It was too dark to know for sure, but it seemed like Remus was blushing slightly. "So you're not angry at me?"

"Why should I?" Remus shrugged. "You always seem to think I'd be angry at you. It's not like it bothered you before."

"Even though I turned your trousers yellow?"

"What?!"

Sirius grinned somewhat sheepishly, rooting around his bed and producing one pair of Remus' trousers, which were indeed undeniably yellow. The kind usually seen on canaries.

"Sirius Orion Black!" said Remus, straightening up.

"I spilled some potion on them last night, is all. Just trying to take the stains out, I swear!"

"Then why are you _smiling_?"

"It's cute," said Sirius, holding the trousers at arm's length. "Yellow twill would be fabulous on you, Moonykins."

"Who wears yellow twill in this day and age, Sirius?" Remus sighed, moving closer to poke at his trousers gingerly with his wand.

"I don't know," said Sirius, innocently. "Professor Dumbledore?"

"I don't want to hear that old theory again." Remus threw his hands up. "And for the record, I don't give an owl's hoot if Dumbledore's a nancy-boy, okay? It's none of our business, anyway."

"If Dumbledore's gay, why can't we be?" said Sirius.

There was a loud pop and the tip of Remus' wand suddenly erupted with a confetti of canary feathers. Sirius sneezed.

"Oy, what's that for?"

"Stop saying stupid things." Remus snatched his trousers from Sirius and started to move back to his trunk. "The color's the only thing changed with it, right?"

"So are you angry?"

Remus sighed, not bothering to turn to look at Sirius. "No, I'm not. Satisfied?"

Sirius braved the cold floors on his bare feet just so he could move as soundlessly as possible, considering the fact that the person he was talking to was a werewolf and probably had senses to rival Mrs. Norris'.

"So it's okay if I do it again?"

"Do what?" said Remus, and Sirius was turning the other boy around, lifting Remus' chin up although there really wasn't much of a difference between their heights for it to make much of a difference.

Sirius leaned down. It was wonderful looking at Remus' face like that, the splashes of pink on the other boy's pale cheeks and the slight fluttering of brown eyelashes as Remus tried to keep the game face up.

"Don't push your luck, Sirius," said Remus. His voice was low, with a suggestion of hoarseness that was like the auditory equivalent of the chocolate drops they sell at Honeydukes with a splash of firewhisky in them.

"Hm."

"James and Peter are looking at us."

Sirius tore his eyes away from Remus' face and towards the direction of the other Marauders' beds, both of which still had the hangings drawn closed.

"Joking." Remus smiled. "Want to take a bath? We could go to the prefects' bathroom."

"Do you realize what you just asked me, Moony?"

"Oh, I'm pretty much armed against anything," said Remus, tapping his wand against his cheek.

"You're talking to another wizard, mate."

"But Padfoot, old friend, _you_ are talking to an armed _prefect._"

"No fun, Moony."

*

"Hey, Moony."

Remus sighed softly. "Yes?"

Sirius resisted the urge to pull the other boy around to face him, satisfying himself with applying more strawberry-scented shampoo onto Remus' hair. Remus loved having other people wash his hair. And because Peter seemed to be living in eternal dread of anyone seeing his naked body (even with swimming shorts on) and James too busy to take leisurely baths (and wash hair other than his own), the task usually fell to Sirius, who didn't mind at all. Sometimes he missed taking long baths in the pools back at No. 12 Grimmauld Place, although that was probably the only thing he ever regretted leaving in that other life.

For their shared baths, Remus favoured a pair of green swimming shorts with owl-patterns and Sirius didn't usually bother. Right now, though, he took time to put on plain black shorts before stepping into the pool-sized bath. Remus noticed, of course, but didn't say anything. If the mermaid in the painting was disappointed, neither boy cared.

Sirius massaged Remus' scalp lightly with his fingertips, smiling when he heard a sound suspiciously like a purr coming from the other boy.

"Don't fall asleep."

"I wasn't," said Remus.

"You know, I've been thinking," Sirius began.

"Why do I have the feeling that's the opening lines to another one of your amazing schemes?"

"How well you know me, Remus. It must be love."

Remus' hand swept in a backwards arc, splashing Sirius with peppermint scented bath water. "Keep to your work, Mr. Black."

"So, about James' date... You're fine with my plan?"

Remus turned around, his eyes widening slightly in panic. "James' date? You're not planning on crashing in on them, are you?"

"You're choosing him over me, Moony? Even after the Pink Bunny incident?" Sirius blinked at Remus, trying not to let the edges of his lips curl into a familiar smirk.

"I'm not choosing anyone over anyone," said Remus. "I just think that whatever you're going to tell me is a bad idea, that's all."

"You haven't heard it yet."

"I don't need to."

Sirius sighed, then shifted his hands from Remus' hair to his shoulders to push him around so that they now faced each other. "Come on, Remus. You know those chocolates were originally intended for you, right?"

"Well, yes. But actually—" Remus stopped, his lips thinning into a line. It was probably the warm water, but Sirius thought that the other boy was blushing again.

"Actually what?"

"Nothing."

"You like keeping things to yourself, don't you?" said Sirius, making a face. His hands left Remus' shoulders so he could cross his arms over his chest.

"So would you if you've been turning into a werewolf since you were a kid," Remus pointed out. He looked put out, almost tired. "Sirius—"

"Hey, we're your friends, okay? Me and James and Peter. It's not like I haven't seen the worst of you, Moony. I mean, I wake you up every morning!" Sirius exhaled loudly.

"All right, all right! I was just worried about you, okay?" Remus said, waving his hands a bit and smiling. "Now get back to the point, you silly git. What about James?"

"Worried about _me_? Nice way of showing it, love."

"Can we not get side-tracked?"

Sirius laughed. "All right. But only because it's you."

*

James Potter stood waiting by the doors, looking over at his reflection on the chest plate of the suit of armor next to him and alternately trying to flatten and mess up his hair. Between all this fidgeting about, he was also sneaking glances at the main stairs of the hallway, frowning a bit and trying not to let other people see just how nervous he was.

James Potter was a Quidditch hero. He's never lost a game before. Not even Bones, who was as hard on the team as McGonagall was on Gryffindors, could find fault with him when he's in his element.

James Potter wasn't so bad with the academics, as well. In fact, he was better than good. He was training to be an Auror, just like he wanted to and no one can deny that he had the promises of being one of the best warlocks out there since Dumbledore himself.

All of this added up to the fact that James Potter was a near perfect guy (well, a few extra inches on his height would have been fine, but then again, he did play _Seeker_ for Quidditch). Near perfect, and he couldn't see why being on a date with Lily Evans would make him feel as jittery as he did.

Not even the large mug of hot chocolate he'd drunk for breakfast had been able to calm his feelings. Sirius might even have spiked the drink with firewhisky, considering how it tasted like. And on a normal day James would never have drank or eaten anything without first making sure what was in it. Firewhisky might be some help now though, except that Lily would probably never give him the time of day again if he shows up drunk for their date.

"Potter."

James nearly jumped when he heard the familiar voice behind him. "Evans! Yes, just in time. Filch was starting to eye me suspiciously, you know."

"Well, it's not like there's much love lost between you two," said Lily, smiling slightly. "Let's go then, before he serves you detention."

"Aw, don't you have the prefectly powers to turn him around?" said James.

"Only with the proper backing. What's wrong, James?"

James stopped fidgeting, taking his hands from behind his back and handing Lily a small box of chocolates. "Well, you know, it's just proper to give your date something, right?"

"Who wrote your lines, Potter?" said Lily, gently. Her eyes widened in surprise when she got a look at the box. "That's from a Muggle store!"

"Yeah, I, er—overheard you tell Patricia Harper how fond you are of those chocolates, so—"

"Hm. That's really nice of you, James." Lily smiled, looking down at the chocolate box.

"Everything for you, Lily—eep!"

"James?"

A flood of pink heart-shaped confetti had erupted from James' mouth the moment he said Lily's name, covering his pea coat, Lily's jacket and most of the floors. Several of the other students getting checked out of the castle for Hogsmeade had turned to look at what was happening, the laughter getting lost among the admiring exclamations from the younger girls.

"Cute," observed Lily, taking some of the confetti from her jacket and looking at them more closely. James realized that Lily actually had one dimple. One cute dimple on her left cheek when she smiled. "How seasonable of you, Potter."

"Not me!" James managed to get the words out amidst more confetti flooding. "Sirius, that GIT!"

Filch had left his post by the doors to stalk over where James and Lily were standing. By the look on his face, James pretty much doubted Filch was going to wish them a happy and sweet Valentine's Day date anytime soon.

"Come on!" said James, taking Lily's hand and pulling her towards the open doors. Pulling out his wand from the pocket of his coat, he aimed in the direction of the ceilings and began to conjure more confetti. He could hear Lily laughing behind him when he started throwing in some wet-start fireworks for good measure with all the horrible pink hearts floating around. James almost slipped on the damned things before reaching the doors, running down the stairs with Lily still holding his hand, out of the castle and they were _free_.

"Well that was interesting," she said, once James thought it safe to stop and catch their breaths.

James nodded, grinning sheepishly.

But Sirius, if it was indeed him who had placed that confetti hex on James (he did mention the like in one of their conversations that James remembered), was nothing if not thorough. James had barely had enough time to think about the situation more rationally when an owl swooped down to where they were standing, making Lily scream a bit and eliciting a sharp curse from James that made Lily frown.

The owl didn't stay long enough to get hexed to death by one very angry James Potter. Instead, James looked down and saw a piece of black parchment on the snow by his left foot.

"What is it?"

James shrugged, although he had a pretty good idea what was written on the parchment.

The note was concise and pretty much covered everything, written with white ink and in Sirius' unmistakable handwriting:

_Mr. Padfoot bids Mr. Prongs a good day and extends felicitations as to the latter's date with Ms. Lily Evans. If you want to speak without scattering those rubbish of a Valentine's Day cliché all over your immediate surroundings, follow these simple steps:_

_1, Pick one curse from the already crowded reservoir that is your head. _

_2, Do you have it? Excellent._

_3, Use it on Lily Evans. _

*

And so the plot thickens. See you guys next!

Also thanks to lovefan81 and the rest of the kind reviewers for sharing their thoughts. My friends added a lot to the plot when my mind is too muddled with unnecessary fluff, but the typos and the rest are of course (and would always be) my fault. :D


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Harry Potter and all the rest is to J.K. Rowling.

Another weirdly-cut chapter! But that was supposedly a cliff-hanger, right? Anyway, here we go:

Chapter Eight

"James?"

James looked up at Lily Evans, who was still buttoning her coat as she hurried down the stairs towards him. "Hey, Evans."

"Sorry I'm late. Patricia was having hysterics about her own date, and I had to reassure her a hundred times that she looked beautiful, as always." Lily laughed a bit at the thought (Patricia was easily the best looking girl in Hogwarts), then did a double take on James. "I like your trousers."

James grinned at her before looking back down at his canary-yellow trousers. "Thought it would be nice, you know? Add some sunshine to winter and all."

"They're a bit long, though," said Lily, observing the folds on the ends of James' trousers.

"Yes, and pretty tight," James muttered. "But all for that bit of cheer and brightness, right?"

"And not your style," Lily finished.

"Sirius' fault," said James, finally. "Stained them with Polyjuice potion yesterday, never the same since."

"He's pretty much unstoppable, isn't he?" said Lily, absently.

"That he is." James held out his hand when Lily was only a few steps up from where he was standing. "And I'd much rather not talk about him on _our_ date. Let's go?"

Lily blushed faintly as she took James' proffered hand, her other hand reaching out to tuck her long hair back behind her ear.

"And Lily?"

"Yes?"

James reached inside his jacket and handed Lily a small box of chocolates. "Thanks for agreeing to go out with me."

Lily smiled, raising her eyebrows. "That's from a Muggle store!"

"I heard you tell Patricia how much you liked them," said James, haltingly. He frowned slightly, pressing two fingers against his right ear.

"That's very nice of you."

"Anything for you, Li—Evans."

"Hey, you can call me Lily if you want, I guess. I call you James, right?" said Lily.

"Well, yes," said James.

"Are you all right?" Lily leaned over to look at James more closely. They had just reached the main doors, where Filch was waving a broom and a mop about with the familiar but still remarkable frown. He gave a start when he saw James and Lily, raising the hand holding the mop as if he planned to flog James with it.

"You! You!" Filch spluttered. Some of the mess he'd been cleaning up fluttered around him when he moved towards James and Lily, scattering more of what looked like pink confetti all over the floors.

"Well, yes, me," said James, mildly. "I'm quite assured of my existence, thanks very much."

"Come back to make more mess, haven't you?" Filch went on, turning a frightening shade of purple. "And your girlfriend just laughing, egging you on—"

Lily made a sound that was halfway between protest and snort. James frowned at Filch.

"She's got nothing to do with it, whatever I'm supposed to have done this time."

"Supposed to have done!" Filch laughed, too, spraying James with his saliva. "A fine one, that is. Why don't you ask the rest of those filthy layabouts what you were supposed to have done, spraying all these muck all over the floors."

"The confetti?" said James, looking surprised. "I don't know what you're talking about. Let's go, Lily."

"Not so fast… You! OY!"

James, who still haven't let go of Lily's hand, began to run, pulling her after him. Lily followed quickly enough, considering her perfect record at Hogwarts, she didn't relish the thought of being served detention for something like this. She was not sure, but when they had passed through the doors, she thought she heard James Potter cursing Sirius Black under his breath.

*

_I can't_, James realized, his hand pausing on his wand. The idea surprised him, making him face up to the fact that he'd been trying to push to the back of his mind the last few years: it was real for Lily Evans. Not just some stupid crush as Sirius had been telling him impatiently whenever James talked too much about Lily. Nothing he'd outgrow any time soon, anyway.

And damn, he was willing to spend the rest of his life spewing forth pink hearts instead of hexing her and making her hate him forever.

He really must be in love.

"Potter?" Lily was looking at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "What's wrong? Someone's cursed you, haven't they?"

James nodded, pointing at his mouth. Then, picking up a stray twig lying on the floor, he began to write on the snow: _I'm sorry_.

"What's the counter-curse?" There was something almost business-like in Lily's manner, the same way she acts when doing her prefect duties. James swallowed a bit, wondering if Lily thought of him like that, like he was just one of her annoying duties.

_I don't know_, James wrote. _Great, _he thought, _I'm not only lying to her. I'm doing it through WRITING!_

Lily bit her lower lip, looking at the letters on the snow thoughtfully. "Who did it, anyway?"

James sighed, then wrote _Sirius, probably._

"He's a genius, isn't he?" She smiled at him impishly. "Handsome devil, too, if you know what I mean."

James goggled at Lily. "Don't tell me—" he began, risking the confetti. _You like him?_ James thought furiously. Lily Evans and Sirius Black? And then it all fell into place, like an image seen from the crystal ball (Not that James was big on Divination. It was one of the few things he could actually fail in). "YOU!"

Lily laughed. It sounded like a bark. "Yeah, Prongs. Me."

"What the fuck?! Where's Lily?" More pink confetti. Well, let Sirius deal with them, James thought. It was all his fault in the first place.

"Oh, I bet she's having a happy time with Remus. You know." Sirius/Lily winked at James, placing one hand on his/her hip. "You really should see your face, James, old boy. I reminds me of the day my mother realized I wasn't going to go back home ever."

"You bloody WANKER!" James said, taking out his wand. He saw the surprise in Sirius/Lily's face, and wondered if it was vindictive of him to feel an enormous sense of satisfaction even though the expression still came from _Lily Evan's_ face.

Sirius scrambled for his own wand, cursing at the unfamiliar buttons of Lily's jacket (How he got hold of her clothes was totally beyond James, and he didn't want to ask. Secrets of the trade and all).

"_Expelliarmus!_" Another voice cut in, before James could say anything (He was actually thinking of body-bind before, after reading Sirius' note, seeing how he wouldn't want to hurt Lily Evans. But the sudden change of circumstances made him want to use the Bat-Bogey hex instead).

James turned around as his wand flew towards the other person. The voice sounded incredibly familiar, although James couldn't tell who it was exactly. It felt a bit like an itch at the back of his throat.

When he saw who had cast the spell, he realized why.

It was himself. Standing a few feet away with his wand extended. With Lily Evans. The other James caught James' wand deftly, smiling a bit.

"All right, James?" said the other James.

Sirius (who still looked like Lily) made a face at this other James. "Shouldn't you be asking _me_? I was the one who nearly got hexed."

"Whose fault was that?" said the other James Potter (Who was, of course, Remus Lupin). "You never said anything about hexing… aside from the confetti, of course."

Sirius shrugged. "It was fun. Spur of the moment decision, you know."

The real James, who had been watching this exchange with his mouth hanging open, caught himself finally. "Can you two poofs explain yourselves?"

"A bit of a payback, actually," said Sirius.

"For Pink Bunny," said Remus, mildly.

"And that bet we had. With interest, of course." Sirius reached into Lily's pockets and tossed a bag of coins at James. "Well, as it _is _Valentine's Day, and your date to boot, we better leave you to it, right?"

"Now take the curse off him."

Sirius sighed. "Just say her name again, Potter." And he stomped off, joining Remus, who was for some reason, wearing the game face. "Happy hunting!"

James opened the bag, counting of the ten Galleons inside.

"What was that all about, James?" said Lily, watching the two boys walk away.

"Well, it's a really long story," James began. "Lily!"

"Yes, James."

"You called me by my name!"

"Well, yes. I guess I did. Did you really send those chocolates then, or was it Remus'?" She held out the box and raised her eyebrows.

"Well… I think that's mine. But I gave it to Sirius before I realized—" James' voice trailed off. "Man, that's good. They probably enchanted their clothes so he could pass the box off to Remus just by sticking it inside his pockets and vice versa."

Lily nodded appreciatively. "Not bad. Don't forget enchanting their own ears so they can talk to each other all the while."

"That smacks of Remus."

"I thought so, too. He won't let Sirius act all on his own, thank Merlin." Lily smiled at James before raising one coppery eyebrow. "So do you mind telling me the long story now?"

"It might take all day."

"That's all right. I like long stories."

"Maybe even all night."

"James, you almost hexed me, remember? Don't push your luck." Lily laughed at the expression on James' face. "Did you just feel vindicated when you realized you could hex me and have a perfect reason for it?"

"I won't ever hex you, Lily."

"Yes," said Lily. "I know."

*

They went to the Shrieking Shack afterwards, because that was where Sirius had left his own clothes, and it was going to take only a few minutes more before the Polyjuice Potion wears off. Personally, Remus would have been fine seeing Sirius in a skirt, but that would have been churlish of him to actually say so.

"A bet?" he said, as soon as Sirius had closed the door behind them.

"Well—" said Sirius. "Yes. A bet."

"Which you lost." Remus tugged a bit at the waist of his trousers. He was taller than James, but narrower, so his own clothes were a horrid fit right then. Sirius hadn't the chance to pilfer any of James' clothes beforehand, though, and had to make do with a pair of Remus' trousers. It had taken him most of the night to write the spell to connect the pockets in Remus' trousers and Lily's jacket, and they'd never have finished the spell on time if they'd tried it on James' clothes that morning. As for Lily's clothes, Remus had to ask Patricia's help on that one, since Sirius (still wary after the Edith Blewett incident) would never dare ask Amelia Waterhouse.

A nice enough plan, all in all. But Remus had the feeling that he only knew half of what's really happened.

"Enlighten me, Mr. Padfoot."

"It's really silly."

"I'm staring at Lily Evans, who looks down at everything from above her nose and walks like a caged animal, right now _in James Potter's bloody body_. Let me be the judge of what's silly, will you?"

"Well," Sirius said, again. He sat down the floors, crossing his legs and allowing Remus a glimpse of Lily Evan's legs before Remus could turn his gaze away. "I lost anyway, so it's not really important now."

"Sirius."

"He said I couldn't make you my boyfriend in a few weeks' time and I said I could. Happy, Moony?" Sirius shrugged. "You made me lose ten Galleons, too, to tell you the truth."

"So that's what it's all about," said Remus, flatly. "But haven't you won already? Everyone thinks we're going out with each other."

"Not James. Besides, he wants you to kiss me or something so you could prove how much you love me." Sirius began to find Lily's shoes very interesting. He was a bit glad for the long veil of her hair since it could hide his face from Remus' stern look.

"But—" Remus began.

"That's none of his business, anyway," Sirius cut in, knowing that Remus was thinking of the kiss they shared the day before. "I mean, that's between me and you, so I don't think James has to know about it, the little git."

"Playing matchmaker doesn't suit him, does it?" said Remus.

"You can say that again." Sirius realized that he was changing back when he began to feel the waist of Lily's skirt getting tighter. Swallowing a curse, he stood up, looking around the room for his own clothes. Remus remained standing near the door, still looking at Sirius although it was impossible to know what he was thinking because he was standing against the light and his face was mostly shadows. Sirius wished that Remus would just blow up at him and get it over with. Then, Sirius can start grovelling and saying he was sorry.

"I take it Pink Bunny was an attempt to get one of us jealous," Remus went on, as if his friends making bets on his sexuality happened every day.

That was an idea that never entered Sirius' mind before. But it sort of made sense, in a twisted, James Potter kind of way. "Yes. Maybe."

"You should have told him you've won," said Remus. His profile had grown taller and slimmer, James' dark mess of hair growing down to the original brown waves. "You did, you know."

"It's not important." Sirius had stopped searching for his trousers, looking at Remus instead.

Remus finally moved to where Sirius was standing, reaching out to brush away strands of Sirius' hair away from his face.

"Do you want to go out and see how James and Lily are doing?"

"Not really."

"I'm sorry you had to lose ten Galleons." Remus laughed softly, the same low, chocolatey laugh with sharp metal hooks that caught on Sirius' flesh and made him shiver a bit. "And had to wear a skirt. But you look nice, you know."

"So do you, Mr. Canary pants."

"Tell me, Sirius, am I more important than ten Galleons?"

"If you have to ask," said Sirius, swallowing nervously. "I mean, I just proved you were, right?"

"You did? I must have missed it."

"Do I need to refresh your memory?" said Sirius, smiling slowly.

"If it's not too much trouble." Remus tilted his head to one side, looking at Sirius through his eyelashes. "This is just trite, isn't it? In the Shrieking Shack and all."

"Well, a Marauder never wastes his opportunities." Sirius pulled Remus closer, running his hands through Remus' hair and tugging gently to pull the other boy's face upwards.

"You just did. With the ten Galleons and all."

"Let's make up for it, then." And before Remus could say anything more (Sirius had the feeling they could talk like that the whole afternoon), Sirius leaned down again, breathing in the scent of strawberries and Remus Lupin before doing just what he said he would.

*

And so it ends. I don't know if all that hassle was worth this ending, but here we are. XD

I would be adding a sort of epilogue-ish chapter later on, so please watch out for it. Now speak your mind and click away at the green button (even if it's to complain that nothing REALLY happened here, anyway). :D


	9. Epilogue

Author's Note: Harry Potter and all the rest is to J.K. Rowling.

Epilogue

"She knew it wasn't me?" said James, for perhaps the hundredth time. Remus had already begun rubbing at his temples and wishing Sirius and Peter would hurry up with the food so James could finally have something else to do with his mouth.

"Yes. James, if you don't mind, I still have work—"

"What did she say, exactly? Come on, Moony. Sirius can help you with those Arithmancy tosh later on. Merlin, make him do it all. What's the point of having a boyfriend if they can't do the smallest things for you?"

"Do you ask Lily to do your homework for you?" said Remus, drily.

"'Course not. But that's different." James waved the idea away with his hand and went back to relevant matters. "Tell me what Lily said exactly, and I won't tell on you for eating Sirius' share of pie yesterday."

"He ate Peter's already. I was just balancing it out nicely," said Remus. But then, with a sigh, he indulged James anyway. "Okay. She asked me if I was all right, see, and I said I was, of course. And she said that I wasn't acting like the James Potter she knew and she asked me what was up."

"So she knew it was really you?"

"I guess so."

"Then she knew it wasn't me because she knew it was you?"

"That would seem to be the case, yes. Get off my essay now?" Remus tried to pull at his Potions essay gingerly, knowing how Slughorn would be all chuckling and falsely sympathetic the next day if Remus goes to class with his work half-done. It was only because he hung around with James and Lily Evans that Slughorn really paid much attention to Remus Lupin. Given different circumstances, Remus would have been left alone, as he preferred things to be. "James, I still need to get that work done on—"

"But then it means that Lily doesn't know me at all!"

"She does, and she will further if you keep your head to its original size. Come on, James. It wasn't like you knew the Lily you had gone out with wasn't really her."

"A hundred points to Remus Lupin, none for James Potter!" said Sirius, who had chosen that moment to burst into the dormitory.

"I wish I could've seen that," said Peter, annoyed. "Sirius in a skirt! How come I never see the best parts?"

"Wormtail, my friend, nobody saw _me_ in a skirt. I was Lily the whole time," Sirius pointed out. He glanced at Remus, who only shrugged and smiled. "Where were you yesterday, anyway?"

Peter blushed, trying to hide his face behind a particularly large box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. "Nowhere important."

"I smell a date," said Remus.

"And a rat," said Sirius.

"A rat on a date he's not ratting to us about," said James.

"It wasn't a date!" Peter protested. "I was just helping Trelawney with some books and all."

"Never mind then," said Sirius, with a laugh. "If it's Trelawney."

"Oh, and how did _you_ get along this Valentine's Day?" said Peter, looking at Remus, but addressing Sirius. "I gather you just paid James his ten Galleons."

"Well, yes," said Sirius, airily. He sat down the desk next to Remus, pushing James over. "Such a blow to my fragile ego that was, getting rejected by the love of my life. Comfort me, Moony?"

"Why don't you go to Edith Blewett, then?" said Remus.

"I do believe Mr. Moony is jealous."

"What person goes to the one who rejected him for comfort, anyway?" said James. He had narrowed his eyes at them, raising his eyebrows at Remus.

"A persistent person, Prongs," said Sirius, at the same time Peter said, "A fool."

"What monster have you created with this bet, James?" said Remus, pushing off Sirius with one hand and trying to save his Potions essay with the other. "Sirius, can't you act normally for once?"

"Normal is overrated," said Sirius. He stopped fooling around, though, and began applying himself to a box of Peppermint Toads. "Want one? Here you go."

Remus opened his mouth accordingly. He could already feel the jumping in his stomach when he noticed James looking at him and Sirius with the same calculating look their friend wears when looking around for the Snitch.

"Is something wrong, James?"

"You know, Lily was right about you two."

"What did she say?" said Sirius, idly.

"That it was about time somebody did something about it," said James. "Tell me something, will you. Did you really lose the bet, Sirius?"

"You have ten Galleons to prove that, don't you?" said Sirius. "Unless you'd much rather give it back, for which I will be eternally grateful."

"Of course not."

*

"He's not an idiot, you know. He'll know about it soon enough."

"Yes, well, we don't have to make life easier for him, do we?" Sirius laughed softly, tracing the line of Remus' left hand with his fingertips. "He really should be satisfied with those Galleons and leave things alone."

"You really hate it that he won, don't you?" Remus took his hand away, laughing at the expression on Sirius' face before running the same hand across Sirius's hair. "If it goes against your grain so much, why didn't you tell him the truth? Your hair's getting too long."

"I like it long. Don't you?"

"I don't dislike it, certainly." Actually, there was probably nothing much Sirius can do with himself that Remus would not like, but Sirius was getting hard enough to live with without hearing that.

"Won't you hate it if I told everyone about us?"

"You already did," Remus pointed out, justifiably.

"It's different this time." Sirius frowned. "Do you want me to take it all back? Like, do we have to break up in public?"

"So we can keep at it in private? Why bother?"

"If it's going to make other people stop looking at you." Sirius sat up, peering up at Remus from under his fringe. Remus looked despairingly at his still unfinished essay before finally giving up on academic pursuits altogether. At least, until Sirius Black would be satisfied enough to leave him alone. "I mean, if you feel uncomfortable about being noticed."

"This is fine, Sirius. Remember the time you tried to keep Snape from noticing me?" Remus said. His voice was too soft to be chiding, but Sirius winced, anyway.

"Well, you shouldn't have tried to defend him so much."

"Defend? What are you talking about?"

Sirius had the sort of complexion that didn't show if he was blushing so easily, but Remus knew what the other boy was feeling anyway. It had something to do with the way he held himself, and tried not to meet anyone's eyes. Remus liked watching Sirius Black. He didn't realize until later what exactly it was he'd been doing when he should have been taking down notes during class hours, but looking at Sirius was certainly more interesting than listening to Professor Binns.

So Sirius felt uncomfortable about what he was going to say, and was searching his pretty head desperately for the words that he thought was going to make Remus less angry than he could be.

"Well, you're always telling us off for hexing him—"

"In case you haven't noticed, Padfoot, I'm a prefect."

"And you always look disapproving when we laugh at him and all. I mean, you don't say anything, but I know you don't like it when we do that." Sirius took a deep breath. "He was always following you around, too. So I thought—"

"Merlin, you were jealous of him!?" Remus laughed.

"Why should I be?" said Sirius, hotly. Then he did blush, and had to look away from Remus before getting himself back together again. "That bloody—" he looked at Remus' face "—nosey parker."

"Sirius—"

Sirius leaned down, placing his mouth close to Remus' ears. "I told you, I'm the only one looking at you. You just have to invest on the idea a bit."

"Hey, you bloody poofs, why don't you come down here and help us with this shite, will you?" James called out at the, banging the door open. "Someone's put a jinx on the giant squid and the whole lake's pretty much drained."

"Jelly-legs jinx, probably," said Sirius, standing up. "Tried that in our first year, really. Don't these kids know enough to do something new for once?"

It was a familiar complaint. Remus stood up as well, reciting it along with James and Peter.

"Something creative."

"And risky, don't forget risky."

"And they call themselves wizards!"

"Excuse me, genuine articles coming through."

*

And so it really does end, this time.

Thanks really for getting this far! Until the next time I try to write something this effing long again! (Or maybe this time, you'd be writing it and I'd be at the enviable position of reading the whole thing.)


End file.
